


Meridian

by Entwinedlove



Category: Firefly, Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, handwaving bad science, sci-fi by a non sci-fi person, technically time travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:53:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26977657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Entwinedlove/pseuds/Entwinedlove
Summary: The crew of the Serenity find their way to Meridian. Just not the one they were expecting.
Relationships: Aloy & Erend (Horizon: Zero Dawn)
Kudos: 13
Collections: 31 Days of Writing Challenge - Fall 2020





	Meridian

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 31 Days of Writing Challenge, Day 5 – a crossover

"What do you mean the coil rod is broken, Kaylee?"

"I mean it's broken in pieces. Worn clean through."

"Don't we have a replacement?" Captain Mal said.

"You mean the replacement I told you we needed three months ago when I pointed out that the engine coil rod was worn, and if it broke we'd be space junk?" Kaylee asked. Without waiting for him to reply she said in an imitation of his voice, "'Next haul, Kaylee, we'll get it next haul.' That was four hauls ago." She knew she was being snippy with the Captain, but she was tired of trying to make do with scraps and being dismissed.

"What about the auxiliary power?"

"The auxiliary power that I rerouted last month to the air systems when the separate power for them failed?"

"When did that happen?" Mal asked, seemingly flabbergasted.

Kaylee refrained from rolling her eyes or sighing. "Last month. I told you when the air systems power went offline, and you told me to make it work. So I did. Now, we're space junk."

"My boat is not space junk," he said, pointing a finger at her.

The overhead speaker activated with a little static. "Umm, Captain," Wash said, "You might want to get up here and see this."

Mal's eyes narrowed. "What now?" he mumbled to himself as he turned and headed towards the bridge. As there wasn't anything Kaylee could do from the engine room, she followed him forward.

It seemed everyone else was curious as to what made Wash sound so nervous as well. Jayne, River, Simon, and Zoë were already in the bridge when Kaylee and Mal arrived.

"What is that?" Jayne asked as they all looked out the window.

Mal moved forward and leaned his hands on the control panel as if getting a few steps closer would make the dark, round thing outside the window more comprehensible. "Is that a wormhole?"

To the left, beyond it was Meridian, the capital of the Blue Sun system. Their destination. The ship was still moving forward, and with any luck would be pulled in by Meridian's gravity so they could land and hopefully find the parts they needed.

Except...

"Is the ship veering off trajectory?" Zoë asked.

Wash nodded and then confirmed it. "Yep. Whatever that is, we're being pulled towards it instead of Meridian."

"Then Kaylee, route whatever power we have left into the boosters."

This time, Kaylee did sigh. "I can't. We either have power to move the ship or we have active air systems and keep breathing."

"I'm partial to breathing myself," Simon said. He shared a commiserating look with Kaylee. He too had been told to wait for supplies, until they had just one more haul. He had told her about how his medical supplies were running dangerously low.

It was clear that the ship was headed towards the wormhole instead of the planet now. She watched as Wash readjusted his hands on the controls. "We might want to strap ourselves in. I don't know if that's going to be a bumpy ride or not."

Mal turned around, and the frown he gave them all was enough to send them scuttling to their emergency stations.

From Kaylee's seat, she could tell when they had entered the space phenomenon that they had all heard about but had never seen. The ship jolted a few times, and the power flickered. The dishes rattled in their locked cabinets in the mess but the sound was distorted. At first, the sound was drawn out. Her stomach swooped, and she thought to call out to Simon, but the sound didn't seem to leave her mouth for moments after she spoke. Then there was a cacophony as her voice, the rattling dishes, and the groaning of the ship all happened at once. The lights stopped flickering, and the ship leveled out.

Jayne looked back and forth with suspicion. "What just happened?"

"We went for a ride," River said. She unbuckled herself from her seat and headed back towards the bridge. The rest of them, after a moment to look around at each other, did the same. The was a brightly light planet in front of them, coming in fast. Mal was tapping the console while Wash was flipping switches, engaging entry codes.

"No, we need these," River said, stepping up beside Wash and typing something in.

"Where are we?" Jayne asked.

At the same time, Wash asked River, What planet is that?"

"River?" Simon asked, prompting his sister.

She looked out at the blue and green and white sphere ahead of them. "Earth-That-Was."

* * *

There was a knock on the door. Aloy stood from where she was eating breakfast at the table and opened the door to find Erend wearing his traveling armor. "Hey, Aloy. Some of the guards say they saw something come out of the sky and land across the water past the Blazon Arch. Avad and Itamen were hoping we could go check it out. Itamen's mother is in Sunfall, and they're worried about her safety."

"Came out of the sky?" Aloy asked as she backed up to let Erend in. She went about putting on her armor and gathering her bag of essentials.

"Yeah. They said it looked like it was on fire." Erend walked around, following her as she picked up her bow, her tripcaster, and her quiver. "Do you know of anything that comes out of the sky on fire like that?"

"Maybe," Aloy said. Bits and pieces of information she'd found in her travels talked about sending something into space, into the sky. But the Odyssey had been lost, hadn't it? She couldn't explain what the men had seen, yet, but she was definitely intrigued.

The trip across the water to Blazon Arch took most of the light of the day so they stayed in the guard barracks for the night and headed north in the morning. To the east of the road to Sunfall, where a trampler heard used to be, they found a small metal ship of some sort. There was a hatch open near one end, and four white humanoid shapes were spreading out from it holding devices. Aloy and Erend didn't try to sneak up on them, but Erend did ready his war hammer, just in case of hostilities.

The humanoid shapes had bulbous heads but once Aloy got a look at one, she realized they were just people wearing something like armor. One reached up and unclasped the helmet. It was a woman, with dark wild hair. She said something that Aloy didn't catch but the others also started to remove their helmets.

"Hello," Aloy said to the woman. "I'm Aloy."

"I'm Zoë," the woman said. She looked at the desert around them and then back to Aloy and Erend, her eyes lingering on Erend's grip on his hammer. "This may sound like a strange question, but what world is this?"

"Earth—"

"I told you, this is Earth-That-Was," a girl's voice rang out. She was still inside the ship but was headed out. She wore something different than the white suit her friends wore. Her dress was a dark blue like the desert sky on a moonless night, and it flowed like the dresses the wealthy Carja women wore. Her shins were bare, and she had heavy-looking black footwear. She seemed to be about Aloy's age.

"Earth-That-Was was used up five hundred years ago," a pale-skinned man with brown hair said. His voice held frustration and irritation.

Aloy's brow wrinkled. "Try destroyed a thousand years ago, and you'll be closer to accurate."

The girl moved closer to Aloy, tilting her head as she looked at her. Beside her, Erend shifted his hands on his hammer and braced his feet.

"Don't even think about it," another man warned. He was pointing something at Erend that looked like a handheld version of the Deathbringer gun.

Aloy shifted slightly and spoke quietly. "Erend," she whispered.

He glanced her and frowned but nodded and swung his hammer to the holster on his back. He raised his hands, flashing his palms at the man who issued the warning, but didn't speak.

The girl in front of Aloy looked around, and then up at the sky. "Time is malleable." She walked back towards the ship where two more people were standing. Their clothes were different from the suits as well. Trousers and sewn bolts of fabric that didn't really resemble anything the tribes wore. They more closely resembled what Aloy had seen in the Focus of what the Old Ones wore.

"River?" the man on the ship asked.

She didn't answer, but Aloy thought she saw the girl smile.

"I'm Captain Reynolds. Our boat is busted, and we need some parts," the frustrated man said. "Is there a market around?"

"We'll take you back through Brightmarket, but Meridian probably has the best selection of goods," Erend answered.

"Meridian?" Reynolds said. He nodded and smiled at Zoë, giving off the impression that things were back the way he wanted them. "That's where we were headed anyway."

"It's not the same one," the girl called River said in a sing-song voice.

"It's a couple days travel from here to Meridian," Aloy said. "So bring what you need. And weapons too," she added, glancing back at the man who still held the gun, though it wasn't pointed at them any longer. "We won't be sleeping out in the open, but we might encounter some Snapmaws or Longlegs along the way."

Aloy and Erend waited outside the ship while the six of the group of seven went back inside to gather their things. River was the only one standing at the hatch of the ship looking around. "I think we're going to like it here," she said, smiling at Aloy.


End file.
